And a Happy New Year
by Wilma69
Summary: It's New Year's Eve and Daniel feels alone


And a Happy New Year

It was New Year's Eve. Daniel stared into his coffee cup, remembering Christmas, just last week. It'd been great, he decided.

The team had been together at Jack's place. Smiling to himself, he wondered if it would make sense to just go ahead and call them family instead of his team. When Jack had given him a piece of the colonel's homemade chocolate cake, memories of past holidays had finally come floating back to Daniel's mind. Juggling a piece of cake in one hand, a huge mug of coffee in the other, and trying not to trip over Sam, who seemed to hug him everywhere he went, he'd barely known what had come over him. But he did know for sure how much he'd missed during the year he'd been ascended. They'd missed him, too. He could tell, could feel it. They'd made him feel wanted, included, and loved, and it had definitely been the best Christmas ever.

But after that, it'd gone downhill fast.

Sam and Teal'c had gone to see their families.

The SGC was quiet, working with a skeleton crew, and everyone had been trying to make the best of it at the end of the year.

Jack and he had planned a quiet New Year's Eve together. They wanted to open a couple of beers and enjoy each other's company. Daniel had been looking forward to it. Even Jack had had to admit it should be fun to watch old movies on TV with a friend, so he'd bought them a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" to watch on DVD. For about the sixteenth time. But Jack had promised this new version had special features on it they hadn't seen before, so this would be the best viewing ever.

Nothing downhill about any of that, until Jack decided to slip and fall on the driveway of his house on December 30. He'd broken his left ankle and wrist. He was currently recuperating from ankle surgery in the hospital rather than the infirmary because no teams were off world, the infirmary was on stand down until the beginning of the year, and even Janet was on vacation, in Florida with Cassie.

Daniel let out a sigh and looked around his office. A small Christmas tree was still standing in one corner, the lights out, half its needles in sad little piles on the floor under it.

He needed a cup of coffee, and he figured after that he might as well go visit Jack. It was almost New Year's Eve, time to think things over and maybe even try to celebrate. His mood faltered with the thought that it had been so nice at Christmas, and now the last day of the year was ending like this.

Fresh cup of coffee in hand, he sat back in his chair, lost in thought. He remembered the New Year's Eves of his early childhood, with his parents. They'd always been travelling the globe, staying someplace new. But his mom and dad had made the holidays fun.

Every year, his mother had made something nice, a Dutch treat called oliebollen. They were like raised doughnuts without a hole in the middle, sometimes loaded up with raisins on the inside and rolled in powdered sugar on the outside. It'd been a recipe she'd gotten from her Dutch father, Nick Ballard. Daniel's mother had always told him that in the Dutch tradition, Nick had fixed them every year when she was a girl.

Now Daniel could almost taste them again, a rare treat made even rarer through time and loss. He smiled at the bittersweet memory.

Nick… After Daniel had descended, a photo of Nick had brought back painful memories of his parents, about his life before the Stargate program. Thankfully, his team, his friends, had been around to help him with those feelings.

General Hammond and SG-1 had indulged his wish to try to make contact with his only living relative, but when they'd arrived on the planet where they'd originally found the crystal skull, they'd discovered the massive pyramids were empty. The giant white aliens had apparently moved on and had taken Nick with them. Remembering it now as if he were standing in that vast empty space, Daniel's heart echoed with remembered emptiness. He'd made it a personal goal to find out where Nick had gone.

Meanwhile, this new year, there'd be places to explore, alien cultures to meet, Goa'uld to battle. He missed Nick and would never forget him, but these things, being able to make a difference again, going out with his team, were just as important at the moment.

Tonight, he wouldn't really be alone. Jack would be there. Gee, New Years Eve in a hospital with a cranky Jack O'Neill. Maybe they wouldn't have much fun, but the staff would probably kick Daniel out by eight o'clock anyway. He knew that Jack's sarcastic tendencies were rubbing off nicely on him, and had been for some time now. The nurses would probably go absolutely crazy with both of them around, so he'd definitely get kicked out. Maybe he'd just go home after his visit and go to bed early.

Just as he was about to get up, there was a knock on the door. He looked up to see General Hammond standing in the doorway, smiling at him. "Are you all right, son?"

"General?" A little startled, Daniel blinked at the man. "I just got myself a last cup of coffee and was about to go visit Jack."

Maybe Daniel wasn't the only one who needed some company right now. The general had been with his family at Christmas, but had to work at New Year's Eve. And here was Daniel, feeling sorry for himself, while this man worked to keep the base on alert and safe. Daniel thought to himself that he had nothing to complain about. "You want to come along, sir?"

"No. Actually, I want you to come along with me, Daniel."

Had he just called him Daniel? The general would only do that if there were a problem, or if he were in trouble. Daniel didn't want to think about a crisis of any kind right now. The ending of this year and especially the start of a new one, promised a whole new life for him also, and he needed badly for it to go well. He could cope with the loneliness, but staying healthy and doing fulfilling work was very important. Of course, the Goa'uld or other enemies didn't think to wait for Earth to stop celebrating.

"Something wrong, General?" Daniel followed Hammond out into the corridor, a curious but worried feeling in his stomach. The coffee cup was still in his hand.

"You'll see."

_You'll see_? What kind of answer was that? The general wasn't normally so evasive. Maybe something was really wrong, and 'Daniel' was the only one who could fix the problem? He followed Hammond without a word, the uneasy feeling in his stomach now turning into dread. As he wondered where they were going, he noticed the corridors were almost empty.

The general stopped at the door of the commissary, and lay a hand on his arm. Hammond's face was unreadable, but his eyes seemed to sparkle. Daniel raised his eyebrows at him. What were they doing here? He was about to ask when the general opened the door and waved at Daniel to follow.

The commissary was full of people. They were all staring at him and smiling. There was a smell of something familiar in the air, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He started to feel more relaxed. Maybe there wasn't something wrong after all. He smiled back at people, familiar faces, still following the general.

A huge table had been placed in the middle of the room. Covered with a white linen cloth, a large frying pan and a bowl of dough had been placed on it.

"Ah, Daniel… There you are."

Daniel blinked at the voice. An old man wearing a white apron stood next to the table, grinning at him. It was his grandfather, Nick Ballard!

"Nick…" Daniel was speechless, his jaw hanging open in shock. How had they ever found him, and how had he gotten there? Before he knew it, the man he hadn't seen in years was embracing him, and he'd just been thinking about him! Daniel didn't know if this was a coincidence, a miracle, or a combination of both, but he didn't think it really mattered. He started to smile, confused.

"It's nice to see you again, Daniel."

Nick hugged him tight, and Daniel didn't mind that people were watching them. He suddenly felt safe, and the emotion of that overwhelmed him. Tears came to his eyes as he hugged the man back.

"How did you... how…"

General Hammond clapped Daniel on the shoulder. "This is my surprise for you, son." When Daniel looked at him, he smiled sincerely. "We've been at it for a couple of months now, almost from the time you came back to us. We thought seeing Nick would help you answer some of the questions you still have about your past. It took us a long time to locate the aliens he was with, and then we had to keep this all a secret from you."

"Yeah, that was the hardest part," another familiar voice said. Daniel turned around to see a grinning Jack O'Neill sitting in a wheelchair, being pushed into the commissary by a couple of Marines. His leg and arm were in large white casts. "Keeping all those secrets was way hard. You're just too inquisitive for your own good, Daniel."

Daniel tried to look hurt, but couldn't help grinning back at Jack. "Am not."

"Are, too." Jack grabbed at a drink from a Marine next to him, earning him a small push. Jack sat back in his chair with a theatrical yelp. He used his good hand to ward off the man. "Hey, watch the leg! And the arm, watch the arm!"

"Stop whining, Jack." Daniel walked over and snagged him a drink from a nearby table.

"I'm not whining."

"Yes, you are."

"Nope, not me."

"Are too."

Nick walked over to say hello to Jack and offered them something on a plate. "You remember these, Daniel?" he asked in his softly accented voice.

"Oh, yes. Mom's oliebollen."

"Look like doughnuts to me." Jack grabbed one before Daniel could, and was munching on it before anybody could say another word. "Yup, doughnuts," Jack decided. "'Dese aw verwy good, Nick," he managed with a full mouth.

"They're Dutch, Jack."

Daniel looked at them, took an oliebol and a glass of champagne offered to him by Hammond. He couldn't help but let out a small sigh. It was a sigh of relief, and definitely a sigh of happiness. He was here, with his family. His friends. On New Year's Eve. Maybe this new year would be one of hope, joy, and friendship. He couldn't wish for more.

Suddenly Nick took his hand and squeezed it tight. "Happy New Year, Daniel."

"Happy New Year…. Grandfather." He took a huge bite of an oliebol.

As Daniel looked into a happy pair of blue eyes so much like his own, he couldn't help but be sure it would be a very good new year indeed.

The End


End file.
